[lbo-talk] Message Boards, mailing lists and organising discussion

[Bitch | Lab]

At 05:32 AM 12/29/2005, Julian Gollop wrote:
>Hello all,
>This is my first post to the LBO mailing list!
>So, firstly, I would like to thank Doug Henwood for making this possible. 
>The quality of the debate here is refreshing.
>I am a Brit, who has just moved to Bulgaria. In the past, I have been 
>expelled from one Trotskyist organisation, and left another before the 
>inevitable occurred, but that's another story. I feel a little bit adrift, 
>but otherwise I am wiser and more humble.
>
>The subject I want to discuss is a practical one. How best to organise 
>discussions? I think that public message boards (web based boards such as 
>phpbb) work better than mailing lists, and I would definitely recommend 
>this for LBO discussions. The advantages are that it is easier to organise 
>discussions, make them publicy viewable, and avoids individuals hogging 
>discussions (it is easier for the viewer to select which discussions to 
>read and avoid).
>However, there are also disadvantages. Running a message board requires 
>more management and organisation. On the plus side, there are better tools 
>for managing discussions, such as limiting posts, filtering language, etc.
>
>I have run a message board for several years (not politics related) and it 
>has been a very interesting experience. I have relied very much on 
>volunteers to act as administrators, and we developed good working 
>methods. It worked very well, and we successfully dealt with a period of 
>attack (flaming) from a concerted hostile group. This was a sobering but 
>valuable experience.
>
>Although I haven't done extensive research, it appears that the Left in 
>general has been very poor at using the internet for organising discussion 
>and debate.
>For an illustrative example, compare the well organised stormfront 
>bulletin board 
>(<http://www.stormfront.org/forum>http://www.stormfront.org/forum) to the 
>lamentable Znet discussions boards 
>(<http://forum.zmag.org/~Public1>http://forum.zmag.org/~Public1).
>
>Joolz.
>

Hi Joolz! Welcome. It's an interesting idea but I wouldn't switch from the 
format to the other. I like threading the disucssion. I like having it 
right here on my hard drive to archive with a single click, etc. etc.

That's just me though. I know others who feel the same.

Personally, I happen to think that blogs and discussion forums aren't 
conducive to community -- though that's not a claim that e-mail lists are. 
The beer cup is empty!

http://blog.pulpculture.org/2005/11/30/the-beer-cup-is-empty/

AT any rate, glad you've subscribed! If there's anything I can do to help 
you advertise a new forum or find inexpensive hosting space, let me know. I 
have some leads.

"Scream-of-consciousness prose, peppered with
sociological observations, political ruminations, and
in-yore-face colloquial assaults."

-- Dennis Perrin, redstateson.blogspot.com

Bitch | Lab
http://blog.pulpculture.org